Hartford’s Insurance Employees Get Some Respect and Dough

HARTFORD: Good news finally for employees of Hartford based insurance companies. First off some ready money as both The Hartford [NYSE: HIG] and Travelers [NYSE:TRV] are giving their employees bonuses of $1,000 each if they earn $75,000 or less annually. The companies have cited the passing of the new US tax reform package as the motivation for their bonus plan.

The best news however came from the CEO of CVS, Larry Merlo that his company which was acquiring Aetna, saw Hartford as the “center of excellence for insurance,” he suggested that future growth was possible in Hartford for the company, rather than a relocation of headquarters personnel to New York City. In $500 Million for Bertolini But Aetna May Not Make Big Apple Move soon after the merger announcement this space predicted that the frugal Merlo would dispense with the NYC move.

Just days before Merlo’s meeting with Hartford’s mayor and Gubernatorial Candidate Luke Bronin and Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy, the City of New York coincidentally, or read face saving move said they were withdrawing their offer of $9.6 million of tax incentives to encourage the move of 250 employees to the Big Apple.

The headquarters move was the heartfelt desire of Aetna CEO and high flyer Mark Bertolini. The Aetna CEO will be receiving nearly $500 million as a result of the deal and will presumably have the funds for a pretty nice apartment near the Chelsea Docks.